Archive: June, 2013

MUSA hosted the 9th annual Rage-in-the-Cage Dodgeball event at the North Ave. Summer Soulstice block party this past Saturday. The tournament title was up for grabs between eight locally sponsored teams that battled it out in the 30×60 steel caged event.

Division A

Hooligan's

Charlie's

Mikey's

Replay

Division B

MUSA

Bar Louie

Eastsider

School Yard

Teams in each division first played one another for seeding and then the #1 seed from B (Hooligan’s) played #2 seed from A (Bar Louie), the #1 seed from A (MUSA) played #2 seed from B (Charlie’s). MUSA and Hooligan’s both advanced beating their respective teams 2 of out 3 but it did take all 3 games to decide the winners in each match-up. The young and upstart Hooligan’s team posed very little threat to the title as the veteran MUSA team quickly dispatched of them in 2 quick games and claiming the Rage-in-the-Cage Cup.

Thanks to all the teams that participated this year and everyone that helped make this another great dodgeball event. Can’t wait for next year.

The Dynasty Rolls on as Vandelay Grabs #6

In a morning fit to be tied to the rainy Spring 2013 kickball season, the 26th edition of the MUSA Golden Lunchbox Tournament began on time and without much consequence. Sure, McCarty Park wasn’t in the best of conditions to start the day but when the rain stopped and the clouds cleared giving way to the beautiful sunshine, only one team, Vandelay Industries stood tall above everyone else taking home their 6th, yes 6th Golden Luncbox.

Vandelay! Vandelay! … say Vandelay Industries!

Spring 2013 Golden Lunchbox Champs: Vandelay Industries

Standing in their way was a Friday night division rival, Prestige Worldwide. PWW had beaten them early in the season 7-6 and gave Vandelay their only loss but solid defense and clutch kicking saw Vandealy on top 3-2. Next was Suck My Kick, a division winner out of the Thursday Mork division. Suck My Kick held it close for a few innings, but costly errors and mental mistakes cost them a 9-0 defeat and Vandelay a trip to the final four against Fall 2012 Golden Lunchbox champions Blue Balls. Blue Balls previously beat Vandelay in the Fall 2012 Championship 3-0 so you know VI was looking for some payback and payback they got. Vandelay 4 Blue Balls 1.

On to the championship against 3-time Golden Luncbox champion SuperDudes. Vandelay scored 1 run in the top of the first and wouldn’t need anymore as tough defense and very few base runners for either team saw this as a 1-0 snoozer and netting Vandelay Industries it’s 6th Golden Lunchbox. Congratulations!

Spring 2013 Silver Thermos winners: SuperDudes

SuperDudes didn’t have it all that easy either on their trip to the final because they drew powerhouse and previous Golden Lunchbox champion Recreational Hazard out of the Twin Cites league for their first game of the day. SuperDudes fell behind early on a fortuitous bounce for Rec Hazard but were able to regroup and recover to make a statement comeback and pull victory out of defeat 4-3. They then quickly dispatched NBalls & Kickin’ Mules 11-0, 3-0 respectively on their way to what might be the weirdest semi-final I’ve ever been witness to and I’ve seen a lot of them. The ‘Dudes battled division rival Red Ball & Vodka to an epic 3-2 16 inning game that saw each team down to 3 players on the field. (For those that don’t know, in the Luncbox tournament teams must take off a field player for each extra inning) Lots of good plays and lots of bad plays… but an exciting game to watch and amazing that it can be that hard to score runs with very few people on the field. Instand classic.

Thank you to all the umpires for hanging in there and helping out when I needed you. Without you, these tournaments wouldn’t run as smoothly as they do and you are appreciated more than you know.

I also want to thank all the teams for playing this year. I look forward to many more tournaments and seasons ahead.

Alright captains, it’s time to prepare your team for yet another exciting End-O-Season (EOS) Weekend. The culmination of all the hard work your team put in over the Spring season. Seems like only yesterday that we started this season… oh yeah that’s because it was. With the crazy Spring weather behind us, we can look forward to a great weekend filled with ping pong balls, brackets, drinking, the Silver Thermos, and the almighty Golden Lunchbox trophy. Let’s get this started…

We’re looking for 32 teams, we got 28

Thursday June 13th

Festivities kick off Thursday night with the Golden Lunchbox Tournament Selection Show live from O’Briens Pub across from Wick Field on 50th and Vliet. Join the fun as teams select their slots on the bracket for the 26th edition of the coveted Golden Lunchbox Tourney. Fill out your bracket for a shot at cold hard cash for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and hobnob with some of the most prolific freak shows in the league. Good times, good times. Balls drop at 8pm!! Get there early for good seats. If no representative from your team can make it, no worries, your team’s fate will be in the hands of someone else who will pick the ping pong ball for you. After the Selection Show the brackets will be complete and you can check them out at the link below.

Looking for help

Per usual, MUSA is looking for those of you that like to ump and want to help out with the tourney for a few games. MUSA will pick up the tab for lunch, plus a pretty good assortment of beverages and snacks during the whole day. If ya know the rules and love being behind the dish, let me know at dan@musasports.com. It’s important to note that we can schedule ya around any games you might be participating in, so even if you are playing, we can accommodate your schedule. Sorry, ya cant ump your own game! 😉 If you are not playing and still want to help out, all the better. Please contact me.

If your team isn’t playing in the tournament, but still want to play, it’s always a good idea to show up at the Selection Show. Once brackets are announced, teams tend to need players. Always a good mingling scene for free agents looking to hook-up!

Saturday June 15th

Golden Lunchbox Tournament

OK, OK, let’s get to the reason for this long winded post. 32 teams are going to compete for the coveted Golden Lunchbox trophy and have their name engraved and immortalized in MUSA lore. This season we are switching it up a bit and trying out a new location at McCarty Park (map) and bumping the start time up to 9:00am instead of having the dreaded 8:15 games. We’ll still have 4 brackets divided up among the 3 fields (#1 South, #2 North, #3 East, and the Nomads) Nomads bracket is sharing field space with others and you can see the bracket link for the schedule.

It’s a county park and all teams are encouraged to bring their own food & beverages. Win or lose we want you to hangout awhile and enjoy a day of kickball.

EOS Bash

New to the Spring EOS is the After Party… It doesn’t end with the tournament this season either, although some have been known to go home and “accidently” fall asleep, we like to keep the fun going with the EOS Bash. This party is for EVERYONE, so regardless if you played on a Recess team or not, we want to see you!

The party will be hosted at Fire on Water (518 N. Water St across from Chase Bank) The upstairs room will be reserved for us kickballers and they’re doing $10 for all you can drink Miller Lite and Coors Lite. The area includes a pool table, dart board, beer pong and multiple TV’s. Get your hand stamped for the beer but you can order anything you want to drink as well as pizzas and appetizers from the kitchen. Party gets rollin’ right after the Lunchbox Championship. Find free street parking or park across the street at the parking structure but be sure to come hang with fellow MUSAites.